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Friday, November 02, 2012

It's Guy Day Friday! Woo Hoo!!!

Today I have the very talented author of the Halo Legacy series here on my blog. Yesterday Challenging the Legacy was released.

We are about to take a look at the hero of this book. Who is he? How does he react to everyday situations? And in this series there is always a antagonist who needs to be defeated.

Buy at:
www.roguephoenixpress.com

BLURB:

Super-mom Tallie O'Shea took on eight
adopted children and built a legacy of compassionate justice with her policeman
husband. When he is gunned down, she doesn't think it's an accident. Then a
former lover shows up and the lies from her past start unraveling. As dangers explode
around her, can Tallie set things right before everything she loves is
destroyed?

EXCERPT:
CHALLENGING THE LEGACY

The pressure
of Pierce's fingers on hers surprised Tallie. She knew speculation about the
two of them had been raging through town since Pierce showed up the night Halo
exploded. Fitting, it seemed, since his arrival and the news he was Marly's
biological father had rocked the foundation of her world.

Events
continued to unfold at a rapid pace, including the whirlwind courtship and
marriage of her oldest son, Collin, and local café owner, Beth Boulanger.
Tallie already loved Beth like a daughter, though she had questioned Collin
about the haste of their wedding.

However, Beth
glowed with innocent love as she walked down the aisle toward Collin. And
Tallie had never seen her oldest son as happy as when he took Beth's hand and
tucked it under his arm, then turned to face his brother, Patrick, who was
performing the ceremony.

"Dearly
beloved..."

What a
difference the packed church was to the intimate setting when Tallie had
married Bernie. Just the minister, his wife, and Bernie's uncle, along with
Collin and Patrick, who were still wary little boys not believing they might
actually have a loving home of their own.

Collin is so handsome. Just like Bernie was.

Tallie dabbed
at her tears with a tissue. Bernie had worn a navy blue suit and starched white
shirt. Tallie wore the new dress he insisted on buying for her and carried a
bouquet of flowers--real ones--from the florist fifty miles away. The two boys
were self-consciously silent in their borrowed suits and slicked-down hair.

"This will be a
real marriage." Bernie had told her when he proposed a union so the boys
would have both an adoptive father and mother. "You decide when you're
ready to be physically intimate. But I'll always be faithful to you."

Tallie touched
the wedding ring still circling the third finger of her left hand. A ring that
had belonged to Bernie's grandmother.

When they
married, Bernie spoke his vows clearly and looked directly at her. In all their
years of marriage, Tallie knew without a doubt Bernie had indeed been true to
her. He never gave her reason to think anything else.

You would be so proud of your children, Bernie.

As she dabbed
at her tears again, Pierce took Tallie's hand and smiled at her. What would her
life have been if she had married Pierce? She would have missed out on all her
children, as well as the courage that came with being part of Bernie's legacy.
She might have become as bitter as Portia Stratford.

She had loved
Pierce with a deep physical passion--in a different way than she loved Bernie.
She and Bernie were partners, with a love that grew from shared respect and
purpose. No matter the past and whatever the future might hold, Tallie was
grateful she had her marriage with Bernie and the blessings of all her children.

Only time
would tell if her relationship with Pierce would become more than being parents
to Marly. Today, Tallie simply cherished this beautiful time of her oldest son
marrying the woman he now gazed at with total devotion and love.

EXCERPT
#2 (PIERCE'S POV) from CHALLENGING THE LEGACY

Seeing his friend at the brink of death convinced Pierce
pursuing Tallie was worth the risk. Not just for the challenge, but for the
reward of being part of her life.

So he returned to Halo for the marriage of her oldest son. In
spite of his determination, Pierce's confidence slipped like the stock market
tumbling when the tuxedoed O'Shea brothers turned to look at him. Tall, solid,
imposingly handsome and not a smile among them as they lined up on the steps to
escort guests inside.

He forced his gait to remain steady as he accompanied Tallie
toward the little chapel where Collin and Beth were to be married. The modest
white clapboard building boasted a single steeple that stretched toward a blue
sky painted with wisps of clouds. Situated across Celestial Creek from the old
downtown, this was one of the few buildings spared when most of Halo was
demolished by dynamite.

Tallie kissed each son on the cheek, including her
almost-son-in-law, Dawson Browning. When she reached Thomas, who had been
wandering many weeks, she hugged him fiercely, then tucked her hand through his
arm. Her escort had been chosen. Under the watchful eye of the other sons,
Pierce followed Tallie and Thomas inside the church.

He settled with some discomfort beside Tallie as Thomas gave
her another hug before returning to the outside steps among his brothers.

Then began the examination by the citizens of Halo. Many of
them knew of him through his visits to Marly, and Tallie took cordial care to introduce
him to those who had not formally met him. As had been the case since he
arrived, Pierce got the distinct impression he was being sized up to the late
and legendary Bernie O'Shea.

As the Halo citizens examined him for any small flaw, being
raised under Portia's overly critical eye paid off. His cufflinks aligned
perfectly with the seam of his shirt sleeves. His aftershave was applied in
just the right amount. His expression was neither too aloof nor overly
friendly.

Under the scrutiny of the townspeople, Pierce's determination
returned. He would become a respected member of the Halo community and surpass
any legacy Bernie O'Shea had built. Most importantly, he would claim the
ultimate prize of Tallie's love.

As
the symphony ended the musical prelude and played the first notes of the
wedding march, Pierce stood with the rest of the guests and squeezed Tallie's
hand.

BIO:

BIO for GENIE
GABRIEL, romance author

For years I've been
fascinated by the puzzle of why some people collapse under life's traumas and
others emerge triumphantly stronger. These triumphs of the human spirit over
the ugliest of adversities became the basis for my stories. Yet my dramatic
stories have always contained touches of humor, and sometimes I have great fun
writing romantic comedy novellas. However, in all my stories, my passion for
writing romance is an outlet for the powerful messages that people can overcome
great difficulties, and true love can turn life’s heartaches into happily ever
after.